John L. Nichols House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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J.L. Nichols House and Studio
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Front of the house
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | 820 N. College Ave., Bloomington, Indiana |
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| Area | Less than 1 acre (4,000 m2) |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architect | John L. Nichols |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 84001207 |
| Added to NRHP | September 27, 1984 |
The John L. Nichols House is an old house in Bloomington, Indiana. It was built in 1900 in a style called Victorian. This house was once the home of a famous architect named John L. Nichols. Today, it's not a home anymore, but it's a special historic site.
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Meet John L. Nichols
John L. Nichols was born in Bloomington in 1859. He was the very first architect to work in the city. For much of his life, he was the only architect there! John Nichols was a very important person in Bloomington. Many people asked him to design buildings in the late 1800s and early 1900s. For example, in just one year (1908), he and his team created over 600 designs!
Many of the important buildings around Courthouse Square downtown were designed by him. But he didn't just design big business buildings. He also designed homes. One of his most famous homes is the Batman-Waldron House from 1895. People have called it the city's "most unusual mansion."
John Nichols also designed smaller homes. In 1902, he even published a book full of his house designs. Many of his designs mixed ideas from different styles. These included Neoclassical, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Stick styles. Local historians called his special mix of styles "Free Classic."
Nichols' Own Home
One of the buildings John Nichols thought was a great example of his ideas was the house he designed for himself and his wife. He built this house on College Avenue, just north of downtown, in 1900. He used his own home a lot in his design book to show off his ideas about architecture.
Nichols only lived in his new house for two years. He moved out in 1902 but still owned it until 1905. Then, he sold it to the Indianapolis Southern Railroad. The railroad was building a train line right next to the property. The railroad didn't use the house much, except for twelve years when a railroad worker lived there.
In 1940, the railroad (which was now part of the Illinois Central) sold the house. After that, many different people bought and sold the house. Over the years, the house started to get old and worn down. But in the 1980s, a new owner bought it. They started to restore the house to look like it did when it was first built.
House Design and Features
The Nichols House is a mix of different building styles, just like its designer. Some parts of the house look like Ancient Greek temples. For example, the columns that hold up the roof of the front porch are in the Corinthian style.
A very special part of the house is the stonework under the columns. Instead of the smooth limestone Nichols used in many of his bigger buildings, this house uses small limestone geodes. Geodes are round rocks with crystals inside. Almost no other buildings in Bloomington use these stones in their design, even though many geodes are found nearby. More geodes used to be around the chimney and in the yard, but many of those are gone now.
The house has an unusual shape. The front, which faces west, is straight. The back, facing east, has an "L" shape. Both the north and south ends of the house are shaped like a pentagon (a five-sided shape) instead of being flat. The Nichols House is only one story tall and has five rooms with a basement. It has a wood frame covered with clapboard siding.
The original cedar shingle roof has been replaced with a fiberglass one. Both the old and new roofs were hipped, meaning they sloped down on all sides. The porch and the back "L" shape had gabled roofs, which are triangular.
Inside the house, most of the walls are covered with oak and walnut wood panels. The floors are made of cherry wood. One of the original features still there is the fireplace, which has its first hearth. Many large windows light up the inside. A lot of these windows are in the pentagon-shaped ends of the building. Some windows open outward like doors (called casements), and others slide up and down (called sash windows). All of them are divided into many small diamond shapes. This was a common design Nichols used in his work.
Other Buildings by Nichols
Right behind Nichols' house is his studio. This is a separate two-story building that looks similar to the house. It's much simpler inside than the house. It has an open floor plan and plain construction. In the past, the studio also got old and worn down, but it wasn't restored when the house was fixed up.
There's another house that looks a lot like Nichols' own home. It's on Rogers Street in the Prospect Hill neighborhood. This house is very close to four other buildings Nichols designed. It's almost a mirror image of his own house! Both houses have clapboard siding, a main entrance in the middle, and eight-sided sections.
Special Recognition
In late 1984, the John L. Nichols house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was chosen because of its unique historic design and its connection to John Nichols. The National Register called the property the "J.L. Nichols House and Studio." However, only the house itself was considered a "contributing property," meaning it was the main reason for the listing.
Like some other buildings designed by Nichols, this house has also been given a special "Bloomington Historic Designation." A 2004 survey called the City of Bloomington Interim Report said it was the most important part of the local Illinois Central Railroad and North College Historic District.
Today, the house is used as an office for a local law firm.
